How Charlotte golf courses are trying to keep you safe from COVID-19 on the fairway
Gyms and health clubs have been ordered closed. Movie theaters and bowling alleys have, too. Pick-up basketball at a local park has become a no-no.
Golf courses, however, are still open during the coronavirus pandemic. Del Ratcliffe, who operates five public courses in and around Charlotte, sees societal value in that.
“Golf allows you to have social distancing without distancing yourself socially,” said Ratcliffe, president of North Carolina chapter of the National Golf Course Owner’s Association. “You can still have interaction, but you’ll be safe.”
Public and private courses were busy last weekend, even as governments urged citizens to keep a six-foot distance from each other when possible and not assemble in large groups. The Mecklenburg County Commission has issued a stay-at-home order, effective Thursday, but golf is included in allowable outdoor activities.
Golf is different from most competitive sports in that it doesn’t require physical contact or to share equipment such as a ball. Golf courses are wide outdoor spaces and there is no need to huddle close. For instance, Ratcliffe’s courses are recommending golfers who aren’t immediate family members stay 50 feet apart when playing a round.
Ratcliffe believes golf courses, greenways and parks provide outlets at a time of heavy stress and families crunched together at home.
“As we move further and further into restrictions on what people can do” to limit spread of COVID-19, Ratcliffe said, “I think keeping as many activities available — as long as they are safe — is going to be critical.
“I’m very concerned about the physical, emotional and mental impact of people not being able to do anything but sit in their houses.”
Keeping golf safe, for players and the course employees serving them, has caused rapid and drastic changes the past two weeks to how Charlotte courses host their customers.
No congregating
Higher-end clubs are a lot more than a golf course. There are swimming pools, tennis courts, clubhouses and dining rooms. Part of the attraction to a country club membership is a wider experience that doesn’t start on the practice tee and end on the 18th green.
Guarding against a pandemic disintegrates that model, at least temporarily.
“The biggest concern is congregation of members,” said Maury Clodfelter, general manager and director of golf at Cedarwood Country Club.
“The strange thing is, as a private club, our whole philosophy is keeping members around, having them stay as a social option beyond golf. We’re doing almost everything just the opposite right now — trying to keep everybody from staying around.”
Food and beverages are now served only curbside and dining rooms closed. Cedarwood also slowed the timing of everything to create a buffer between groups, from cart pickup to the driving range to the first tee.
“We’ve gone to straight tee times — no shotgun starts,” said Clodfelter, adding special events such as tournaments are on hold. “We don’t want people gathering up and hanging out together.”
That’s the logistical aspect. It complements a comprehensive look at everything golfers touch, to keep them safe.
Check-in to last green
Ratcliffe’s company manages five courses, including Dr. Charles L. Sifford off Remount Road and Sunset Hills off Radio Road. Two weeks ago, he made major changes in processing customers that start before you pull out your wallet.
“We looked at our process from beginning to end, and said ‘what are the potential points of communicating this virus from one person to another?’ ” Ratcliffe recalled. “Even in golf, where we’re very conducive to social distancing, there were some places we had to work on.”
Start with cash. Or in this case, don’t.
“I’m really appalled by the number of transactions still happening out there with cash,” Ratcliffe said. “You can’t effectively sanitize cash the way it’s being handed back-and-forth between human hands. It is definitely a transmission weakness.”
Ratcliffe purchased kiosks with flat screens that are cleaned between each use to facilitate credit card check-in. Also, customers are encouraged to check in on line before coming out to the course.
Instead of walking straight up to the counter to make a purchase or rental, tables have been placed in front of customers to create 6-to-8 foot buffer zones from employees. If a customers needs a receipt or a golf-cart key, employees have baskets attached to broomsticks to make that transaction.
The carts are washed with bleach between uses to disinfect any touch points.
At Cedarwood, Clodfelter assembled a variety of best-practices ideas from organizations such as PGA of America. Golf might not require a competitor to touch opponents or share equipment, but there are numerous ways over a round that common surfaces are typically touched.
“We pulled all of our daily-use things,” Clodfelter said. “All the water (coolers) are off the course. We pulled all the rakes from the bunkers. We’ve adjusted the holes, so the ball doesn’t go down into the cup itself. We’ve cut swimming noodles (made of polyethylene foam) and stuck up the hole so you are not reaching down into the hole for the golf ball.”
Cedarwood’s course is flat enough that it’s not uncommon for players to choose to walk it. But carts are still the norm, which complicates social distancing, so Clodfelter changed cart-distribution guidelines.
“We are allowing members who want to ride single in a cart to do so,” Clodfelter said. “If there is a family member who they are comfortable with, then they are riding together in those situations.”
All this slows the staging process from picking up a cart, to getting a spot on the driving range, to the course itself, but it didn’t hurt business on a warm, sunny weekend.
“Friday and Saturday were just really packed to sundown,” Clodfelter said, adding members have been understanding about the changes.
“I think people appreciate all the things we’ve done to keep them safe, but also allow them to get away from the constant (stress).
“(Troubling news is) on your radio, it’s on the TV, it’s in your email. It’s nice just to get out in the sunshine.”
This story was originally published March 24, 2020 at 10:36 AM.
